BELIZE CITY, Thurs. May 21, 2015–Tysha Toni Roches, 17, a business student of St. Catherine Academy, has copped 1st place in a regional video competition sponsored by the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organizations (CANTO), for her video titled, “ICT and Me”.

In a press release issued Wednesday, CANTO said that Roches emerged as the number one contender in CANTO’s 9th Regional World Telecommunication and Information Society Day Video Competition, with Belize snagging the award for the second consecutive year. William Mahler, Jr., won the competition last year.

“Her video informed and enlightened viewers of the evolution of communication and how it shapes and creates an innovative environment through ICT and Telecommunication platforms,” said a statement from CANTO.

Roches receives a trip for 2, plus hotel accommodation, to CANTO’s 31st Annual Conference and Trade Exhibition in Miami, which will be held from July 26 to 29, 2015, as well as a tablet plus US$1,000.

“I feel excited and I am proud of myself that I could create something so good. I have experience in videography and participated in other competitions in Belize before, but I wanted to see how [the material] would be viewed outside of Belize,” Roches said.

Roches said that she would like to further her studies in Computer Information Systems, and her ultimate goal is to pursue a career in ICT.

The theme for this year’s World Telecommunication and Information Society Day was “Telecommunications and ICTs: Drivers of Innovation”. The video competition was opened to students from 14 to 18 years of age in any of CANTO’s 35 member countries.

Entries were judged by a panel of experts in the field of telecommunications on creativity/originality, message content, and technical organization.

Social media feedback also factored into the final outcome of the competition. Videos were uploaded on Facebook and persons were encouraged to vote via the ‘like’ function button. Videos were ranked according to the number of ‘votes/likes’ received and awarded points for them.

The 2nd place prize went to Allison Arnaez of Suriname, and 3rd place went to Daniel Stewart, also of Suriname, who will each receive a tablet and cash awards of US$500 and US$250, respectively.

“CANTO congratulates all the entrants and looks forward to the 10th Video Competition in 2016,” the organization concluded in its release.